Bread, -yum!

I had heard of sprouted wheat bread but never knew it was pretty easy to make some seriously delicious and fully healthy bread with soaked wheat flour which does pretty much the same thing as sprouting the grains (correct me if I'm wrong). I took this photo after I tried this recipe for the first time, and I will let the picture say the rest. Healthy eating is fun!

Garden Goodies

Here are just some ways how we have been enjoying the fruits of our labor this summer.

Homeschooling; how biblical is it really?

That is the question I have often pondered. But then I found this article and it helped me look at homeschooling from a biblical perspective. Just to realize that God has given these children into our hands for a little while and that we are responsible for what goes into their young minds and hearts, it makes me feel so unworthy on the one hand. But on the other, it makes me want to be more like God, so that through my teaching them I will impart more of Him into their precious innocent hearts.

(If there is anyone out there who has ever wondered if homeschooling is the christian thing to do, here is an article you might want to read!)

Let's make some Ice Cream!

Ice Cream. While it is still summer. That is scary. As if summer is almost over, and I don't want it to be!

Get your gear out, and let's get cranking! I always feel so much better about eating ice cream that I have literally worked for, and once I have cranked that handle for 20 minutes, I have lost enough calories to deserve some, believe you me. (This is a genuine old fashioned ice cream maker that I convinced my husband to buy me for a gift after seeing it in an antique store... ;) )

How does that look?

I thought so...

I threw some strawberries in the blender with some soft ice cream and made a quick flavored variety. Hmmm, I think I could use some just now. After all, its still summer...

Ice cream

1 1/2 qt. whole milk

1/2 qt. whipping cream

2 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

2 T gelatin

1 T vanilla

1/2 tsp. salt

Soak the gelatin in a little cold milk.

Scald the milk with the sugar and egg yolks, stirring to prevent burning.

Pour hot mixture over gelatin mixture; add salt, stir and cool.

Whip the cream and once the milk mixture has cooled completely, add it to the whipped cream with an egg beater. Add vanilla, and freeze. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, try to stir as often as possible once it has started to freeze. 

The books are here!

"Mommy, when is that UPS truck coming? Do you think he is going to come today? Maybe he won't come..." Well, he did come! And boy, I mean girl, was she excited! Perhaps more so because her mama was. I feel like I am going back to school or something! Anyway, let's hope the eagerness to homeschool will last for a long time yet. Tomorrow its off to Walmart to buy supplies!

Of Clean Windows and Flowers...

I used to be so up-to-date with keeping my windows clean. I sort of enjoy washing windows. For over a year ago since we moved to this old White House, (and that is the name of our house in case i hadn't mentioned it before) on my to-do list was washing windows. Who knows how long these windows had been dirty. Some still are. I guess back when they built these windows they must have thought what great windows! WELLLLL. They sure are hard to open and close, that's about all I know. Huge, heavy panes. Too heavy for a pregnant lady to clean by herself, which justifies why I didn't wash them until-now. I know my baby is almost 1, you don't need to rub that in!

So I was thinking, why is it so hard to get to cleaning windows now? It used to be such a breeze.

Here I started with one window. I got some help with it, and everyone who is in the same shoes knows what that means. It didn't take long for my helpers to tire of it and out of the open window they jumped, off to find something more exciting.

While washing and stewing about how much work it was and mourning the fact that I can't seem to keep my house in top shape anymore, I was distracted by my two oldest children right outside the window I was washing. Surprise! They were holding hands and some flowers.

I took the moment to 'smell the roses'. All of a sudden I understood why I couldn't get my windows clean like I used to! Back when I got all my work done so fast, I didn't have these interruptions. My eyes blurred when in a flash the children were gone again, finding something else exciting to do. Yes, I prefer these times to when I didn't have these precious blessings to interrupt me in my busyness and remind me to smell the roses. O and if you ever feel like you are the only woman who can't keep her windows clean, I hope I have convinced you that that is simply not true.

Storm's a-comin!

A friend called us last night and warned us about the coming storm. We prepared as best as we could, which wasn't much. We had the trap door and the other door to the basement open. And then we watched the windows...

You never know what the clouds will look like in Iowa. In all the different places I have lived I have never seen clouds like I see here.

At first these very calm looking straight clouds came up.

Not so smooth as they came closer. And they came closer fast. I took this one through screen, as you can see.

And then they started churning. At this point it starts to get real windy, but it usually passes fairly fast, and as soon as it does, it rains. Sometimes it hails as well, but not last night.

This photo reminds me of Lion King where the monkey says to Simba, "Wat was dat?! Very peculiar weather, wouldn't you say?" ...or something like it.

We did not get as much wind as expected. Our garden didn't suffer as much as it sometimes has. But peculiar, that it was. Definitely!

Sweet Corn!

It is time to eat sweet corn.

And freeze what we can't eat. And play with the shucks...

Here is our younger sweet corn that we will eat from several weeks from now. Right now I have seen enough for a while! Our freezer looks good right now.

Have you ever seen anything like this? Isn't it just the sweetest ear of corn you ever saw??? A mama with a little baby!

Back, and Busy...

We are back! It was a fine trip, even if little Tim is no fan of traveling. We took hotel both going up and coming down, and that made traveling lighter on all of us. 12 1/2 hours in the seat would be quite a lot for one day.

As always, I have lots to do in the house and garden... And many stories I am waiting to share here, but have to attend to priorities first!

I made some mustard pickles today. As it is a rainy day, the children are busying themselves with indoor fun, and I got out the supplies to start a pioneer dress for Jessica. Let's see how far I get! I also plan to make some chocolate candy to surprise hubby... (or to please myself... both, I guess!)

Nowadays we are eating from our wonderful sweet corn. Hubby put electric fence around it yesterday, so now the rascal coons will stay out of it! Tomorrow we will need to dig up more carrots, and lots of potatoes. Lots and lots... O boy; my work has no end in sight!

And then I also need to work with setting up homeschool for Jessica's first year. Let's see how that goes... But, I am looking forward to it, and so is she.

There is a little update! More later with photos, but for now, back to my work!